The invention is based on the priority application EP 07290252.1 which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to an integrated circuit for reception of radio frequency signals in an antenna network system, to an antenna network circuit, to a method for reception of antenna signals, and to a base station for a cellular telecommunications system.
Antenna network circuits, as used for instance in base stations for cellular communication systems, comprise low noise amplifiers (LNA) boards for amplifying received radio frequency, RF, signals.
Existing LNA boards, in particular LNA boards for diversity (i.e., multiple parallel) reception of RF signals, are dedicated to a single specific frequency bandwidth or standard and use discrete components. In this way, a completely new development of the LNA board is required when changing equipment or when moving to a new bandwidth or standard. Moreover, the fact that known LNA boards are designed based on using discrete parts, e.g., a digital processing unit (CPU) and unitary components such as transistors, varactors, PIN diodes, resistors, capacitors and inductors, the part count and overall costs are high, especially if two identical structures are necessary for diversity reception, as required for instance by GSM. Furthermore, building up an LNA board from discrete parts requires considerable tuning and adjustments on board before a corresponding solution is ready for manufacturing. Due to their assembly from discrete parts, known LNA boards show an elevated consumption of both space and power, which presents an issue for the design of future equipment.
Alternatively, the Low Noise Amplifier function (LNA function) is designed by combining several transistor stages in a single full-custom module, i.e., dies wire-bond on a ceramic (i.e. alumina) substrate and other components assembled in a unique custom package. This is again a full custom design for on particular frequency and standard having the above-mentioned disadvantages.